Given pocket-less shorts by kit supplier, Indian tennis stars use their own at Asiad
Unlike other sports, tennis players cannot do without pockets in their shorts as they have to keep spare balls in them.
Published : Aug 23, 2018 12:44 IST
The Indian men’s tennis team turned up in taped kits to hide personal sponsors’ names in Thursday’s Asian Games semifinal after the ones provided by official sponsor Li-Ning were deemed unusable due to pocket-less shorts.
Sports apparel brand Li-Ning is Indian team's official sports apparel partner till Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has pointed out to the tennis contingent that it is not supposed to wear shorts of brands other than Li Ning.
Unlike other sports, tennis players cannot do without pockets in their shorts as they have to keep spare balls in them.
“It is not at all the fault of the tennis players. They have been wearing the official kit even in training. But since there are no pockets in shorts, they have no option but to wear what they have. There is no time to fix this with the competition about to end in two days time,” said a source in the IOA.
The matter, at best, can be described as an oversight on the part of the kit supplier. Since Li Ning is the official sponsor of the Indian contingent, the IOA could have spotted this oversight before delivering the kits to the tennis contingent.
Men’s doubles top seeds Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan played their semifinal in taped shorts on Monday.